{"id":10437,"date":"2015-04-22T17:07:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T21:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=10437"},"modified":"2015-05-06T17:41:11","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T21:41:11","slug":"volunteering-for-sundays-southlake-run-is-perfect-way-to-give-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/volunteering-for-sundays-southlake-run-is-perfect-way-to-give-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteering for Sunday’s Southlake Run is \u201cperfect way to give back\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have lived in York Region long enough, chances are you or a loved one have experienced the top quality care of the Southlake Regional Health Centre.<\/p>\n

For Brian North, Aurora\u2019s 2012 Citizen of the Year, his mother passed away there just over nine years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe hospital was phenomenal,\u201d said North. \u201cThey treat you well there, and deserve the assistance of the community for all they do for the community.\u201d
\nBut the facility\u2019s reputation stretches much farther back, back to the days when it was known simply as York County Hospital. King Councillor Avia Eek\u2019s connection with the hospital has stretched the length of her life as well as her family\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born there, my husband was born there, my kids were born there\u2026it\u2019s a family affair.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the tender age of two, her son lost the end of his ring finger in a door-slamming accident. Ten minutes later she arrived at the hospital, and an hour later an on-call plastic surgeon had the distraught child\u2019s finger sewed back on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just one of the ways the hospital has been there for us. We\u2019ve had great experiences, the level of professionalism is unbelievable\u2026it\u2019s the perfect way to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Sunday marks the annual Run or Walk for Southlake presented by Nature\u2019s Emporium, a 10km, 5km, or 2.5km walk or run to raise funds for new or replacement hospital equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now they need something like $80 million just to upgrade,\u201d said North.<\/p>\n

For Eek, she worries that while many people are willing to donate their time and money, most don\u2019t understand the magnitude of the hospital\u2019s financial situation. The emergency department was originally designed to service 40,000 people. In 2014, it serviced 99,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs our community is growing, so are our needs for the hospital. We need donations from anyone\u2026businesses, individuals\u2026you don\u2019t even have to run to donate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both North and Eek have been privy to the inside workings of the run for some years now, both serving on the committee board since it was known as the Hartwell Challenge in the mid-00s.<\/p>\n

The talented 15-member committee includes Southlake Board member Steve Hinder and Aurora Councillor Michael Thompson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re tremendous, community-minded people,\u201d said Eek. We\u2019ve got quite a cross-section of volunteers from the Aurora, Newmarket, Bradford and King area.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the run grows in volunteers and participants every year, so does the need for more space. This year marks the first time the run will be held at the Stronach Aurora Recreation Centre on Wellington Street East, moving away from the Aurora Community Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping the move allows for a more relaxed and comfortable experience,\u201d said North. \u201cWe\u2019ve got plenty of room for activities for the kids, like face painting and a bouncy balloon, some mascots will be walking around. Plus there\u2019s room for more volunteers, if people so wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of press time, the run has raised just under $100,000, with an ultimate goal of $175,000. Usually a large influx of funds comes in the day-of or after the run, when community members see the enormous support for the cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone has a chance to be there Sunday, I suggest they get out there,\u201d said Eek. \u201cThe way the crowd gets pumped up, you\u2019ve got the music going, you\u2019ve got the activities for the kids, you\u2019ve got the runners getting excited\u2026it\u2019s quite a sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on volunteering, running, or becoming a donor\/sponsor, visit www.runforsouthlake.ca. Donations can be made up to two weeks after
\nSunday\u2019s run.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have lived in York Region long enough, chances are you or a loved one have experienced the top quality care of the Southlake Regional Health Centre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-2Il","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 15:27:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}